England U21 captain Jack Butland is being lined up to succeed Begovic and has been promised he will be a No 1 next season - even if it means him going out on loan again after spells with Barnsley, Leeds and Derby since joining Stoke in January 2013.

Talks with boss Mark Hughes and chief executive Tony Scholes have failed to convince the former Portsmouth man to stay.

Former Chelsea keeper Carlo Cudicini reckons there are plenty of reasons to join Jose Mourinho’s men - even as second choice behind Courtois.

Cudicini, who spent four and a half years as Cech’s back-up at Stamford Bridge, said: “If you are a goalkeeper that wants to prove himself, it’s a club where you can definitely be tested.

“The season is long; you have a lot of games to play. It happened last year with Petr Cech. He ended up playing around 15 games. So you have space and time to show the ability and your skill, so why not (go there)?”